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<font face="Times New Roman">Thanks very much Mr. Zimmerman.<br>
<br>
On the spelling of High Beech/Beach, both versions have survived
since before spelling was standardised, and each has had a theory
developed around it.<br>
<br>
What is now Epping Forest is the tiny remnant of a once much
greater forest. The reason why it was the last remnant to survive
is that it is on a long, narrow, and very high (in the local
landscape) ridge of gravel, and so the 'soil' is too poor to be
worth using as farmland. Only the onslaught of London's villas
could threaten it.<br>
<br>
If you will indulge me a bit, my mother (an amateur geologist who
spent years walking the forest, collecting its pebbles, and
identifying where in Britain they started their journey from) told
me long ago that this ridge of gravel was pushed right across
Britain in a roughly SSE direction by the icebergs of the last Ice
Age. They would of course carry great boulders vast distances, but
would also grind rocks up into smaller rocks and eventually
rounded gravel, just like beach gravel, which would roll along at
the feet of the icebergs. When the Ice Age passed its zenith and
the bergs began to melt, these 'feet' of gravel were left where
they are, and Epping Forest sits on one of them.<br>
<br>
This explains one of the theories - the ridge has been supposed by
some when geology was in its infancy to have been the remains of
an ancient beach, raised up by tectonic forces. Hence, "High
Beach".<br>
<br>
The forest's trees today are mainly oak, beech and silver birch,
and the beech trees are most significant because they were for
centuries coppiced, pollarded and especially lopped, the latter
being a technical term relating to the permitted gathering of wood
in a royal forest by those with the rights to do so, meaning
cutting off any branch above a certain height (was it 6 or 8 feet?
can't remember.<br>
<br>
This was practised right up until the Epping Forest Act of 1878,
since when the lopped trunks have sprouted new branches which grow
out at wild angles from that sort of height. That is why most of
the images you get to see of Epping Forest feature these 'strange
unusual trees' so much. No prizes for guessing, it also explains
the second spelling's theory.<br>
<br>
For example, a lovely image here:<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://geographical.co.uk/uk/discovering-britain/item/1441-the-peoples-forest">https://geographical.co.uk/uk/discovering-britain/item/1441-the-peoples-forest</a><br>
<br>
But in truth both theories are younger than the spellings, which
were both born in a time when either would do.<br>
<br>
I grew up on a country lane about one mile south of Waltham Abbey
and about one mile west of High Beech. As a result, even in my
later years I still know the forest's twists and turns far better
than I do the town, for the forest was my childhood playground.
Back then, all the road signs in the area, which must have dated
to the first half of the 20th C, only ever used the spelling
Beech, whilst Ordnance Survey maps only ever used the spelling
Beach. To me, the local signs were and always will be correct, but
the OS maps are also not incorrect.<br>
<br>
There is a similar story over the 'correct' spelling of the River
Lea or Lee. Again, but spellings date back to a time when either
was acceptable as above. But then one day, those who make laws in
this land (but this time the Govt instead of the Ordnance Survey)
picked one of the spellings for a specific purpose, and so that
spelling (Lee) is the only one used in official and legal papers,
whist the other only exists on old maps (even the OS maps say
'River Lea or Lee'). The specific purpose was the Lee Navigation,
an artificial navigable canal which sits to the side of the
natural river's many channels and follows alongside it from
Hertford to the Thames.<br>
<br>
But in this case there is an even earlier spelling which both Lee
and Lea are based on but neither is much like it. In Anglo-Saxon
and early Anglo-Norman records it is spelt <i>Ligean</i> (and
variants of course).<br>
<br>
Sorry to clog up a bell history website with this stuff - you can
all shoot me now - I've got my blindfold on.<br>
<br>
Lawrence Greenall, Waltham Abbey<br>
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Lawrence<br>
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 07/02/2021 17:39, Carl S Zimmerman
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:527070807.340372.1612719599529@mail.yahoo.com">
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<div class="ydp26c9a881yahoo-style-wrap"
style="font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;font-size:16px;">
<div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Here are a few links
relevant to the recent discussions:</div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">British Carillon Society
page about Old Bond Street:</div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"> <a
href="http://www.britishcarillons.org/carillons-in-the-british-isles/london/"
rel="nofollow" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.britishcarillons.org/carillons-in-the-british-isles/london/</a></div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">TowerBells page about Old
Bond Street:</div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"> <a
href="http://www.towerbells.org/data/UKELNWFX.HTM"
rel="nofollow" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.towerbells.org/data/UKELNWFX.HTM</a></div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">TowerBells page about High
Beach:</div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"> <a
href="http://www.towerbells.org/data/UKEHBCHI.HTM"
rel="nofollow" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.towerbells.org/data/UKEHBCHI.HTM</a></div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Although Google Maps calls
this place High Beech, the Ordnance Survey maps (which I
take to be authoritative) call it High Beach. Both place
names are found in the very extensive Church History on the
parish Website:</div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"> <a
href="https://www.highbeachchurch.org.uk/" rel="nofollow"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">https://www.highbeachchurch.org.uk/</a></div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">The bells were apparently
part of the furnishings of the construction of the "new
church" in 1873, and were played from a weight-driven
chiming machine until the present baton keyboard was
installed in the 1960s.<br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Wikipedia page about High
Beach (High Beech):</div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"> <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Beach"
rel="nofollow" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Beach</a></div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">On "carillon" versus
"carillion":</div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"> <a
href="http://www.towerbells.org/data/carillion.html"
rel="nofollow" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.towerbells.org/data/carillion.html</a></div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">My Website does not pretend
to be complete in its coverage of chimes in the UK, whether
they are made of conventional or hemispherical or tubular
bells. Nevertheless, suggestions for additions and
corrections are always welcome.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div class="ydp26c9a881signature">
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;font-size:16px;">Carl Scott Zimmerman,
Campanologist <br>
Saint Louis, Missouri, USA -<br>
- 19th c. home of at least 37 bell founders or resellers
<br>
Tel. +1(314)821-8437 <br>
Webmaster for <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.TowerBells.org">www.TowerBells.org</a><br>
* Avocation: tower bells<br>
* Recreation: handbells<br>
<div> * Mission: church bells</div>
<div><span class="ydpb3b8dea8pasted-link"><span
class="ydp73140da6pasted-link">Webmaster for
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.TSCChapter134.org">www.TSCChapter134.org</a></span></span><br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
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